It’s Complicated

As we watch the fires burn our neighbors’ homes in southern California, we have to keep in mind that the fires aren’t burning because of an inadequate water supply or a particular fire chief or reduced budget. They’re burning because of the Santa Ana winds and high temperatures with low humidities. When you have 60 mph winds or greater, there is no fire chief, water supply or budget that is going to put out the fires. The modern complication is the urban growth into the wildlands. That’s southern California, but we have a growing fire problem throughout the entire United States.

In the 1970s when I first became a firefighter, a really big fire was 10,000 acres. Oh, for those good old days. Today, a 10,000-acre fire doesn’t even raise an eyebrow unless it’s in Los Angeles. Now we deal with 100,000-to-500,000-acre fires. Everything is different. There used to be something called “fire season.” Fire season was the time of year in every part of our country when there was a possibility of a wildland fire. Yes, everywhere. From New Jersey to Florida, the central plains and all of the west. But now we can have fires year around. In 2016 I spent a couple weeks over Thanksgiving working on wildland fires in Tennessee and North Carolina. Firefighters travel all over our country and even outside our borders to respond to wildland fires.

So, what’s going on? It’s complicated and complicated problems can’t be solved with simple solutions. We need nuanced discussions, not positions based on ideologies.

The reality is it’s hotter and drier out there. You can blame it on whoever or whatever you want – but get over it. The climate is hotter and drier than it was even 30 years ago, especially in the west. The change in climate has made the fire seasons longer. They begin before the last one even ends. And longer burning seasons mean bigger fires. Think about it, a “normal” fire season in Arizona for example used to start in June and end in September. Now it starts before March and hopefully ends in November. That’s six more months of drying. The wildland fuels, grass, brush, and trees only had three months to dry out. Now they have nine months. This year in Arizona fires are still burning in January. The longer the fire season, the larger and more intense the wildland fires are likely to be.

See also  The Hardest Part of Fighting Fire

What do we do about it?

Some people want to blame the government by saying they don’t cut enough trees anymore. The fires in southern California this week are not timber fires. It’s all brush, chaparral – and chaparral is made to burn. Its resinous leaves are filled with turpenes that burn like gasoline and naturally burn every 20 to 50 years.

What about timber harvesting? Is that really a thing to stop the big fires? Sure, if you cut down all the trees and pave the forests, we’d have no fires. But to maintain a healthy resilient forest, we need to thin the small trees and remove the underbrush by careful burning or by mechanical means. This doesn’t eliminate the fires, but at least there will be trees standing after the fire goes out. It will also make it easier for you, the firefighters, to be successful in extinguishing the blaze. So yes, human intervention is pretty important to manage and save our wildlands. Keep in mind, if you want to harvest timber there has to be a local market. You can’t sell trees if no one is buying them. And that has been a big problem for many areas of national forests. Like I said, it’s complicated.

On the other hand, those on the other side of the argument think we should just let the fires burn and let the wildlands return to their natural equilibrium. It’s too late for that. We’ve changed the environment, and now we have to deal with it. Remember the famous quote by General Colin Powell, “You break it, you buy it.”  We changed it and now we have to deal with it. But there are locations in the west where natural fires can and should be allowed to burn. In my career, I managed dozens of fires in the backcountry wilderness with excellent results. But those are politically dangerous fires. If something goes wrong, communities and careers could be at risk.

See also  Wildland Firefighter Training: Were The Good Old Days That Good?

Prescribed burning should also be a part of the equation, but the public has to be supportive. I’ve had to deal with angry homeowners because the smoke we created from our prescribed burn was a nuisance to them. But six months later, our prescribed burn resulted in saving their entire subdivision. Years ago, while working in California, homeowners would call to report that the smoke from our prescribed burn was a nuisance… before we even lit a match. Pretty frustrating for us fire practitioners.

Homeowners and developers have to take responsibility as well. It’s not just those who live out in the forest who are at risk. Our wildland fires are turning into urban conflagrations. In 2003, I was on the Cedar Fire near San Diego. We lost over 2,232 homes and 15 lives in that fire. The Camp Fire in 2018 resulted in the loss of 18,000 homes and 85 lives. Have we seen a huge change in zoning and building requirements?  Wildland fires become an urban fire spreading from home to home. Zoning should include road standards, clearances, water supplies just to name a few. The zoning standards will cost more money. But so does losing an entire subdivision to fire. What will it take to change our ways?

What about our wildland fire response organizations? You already know that there are 5 different federal wildland fire agencies, 50 state wildland fire agencies and over 27,000 local fire departments. We know what that kind of inter-agency coordination looks like. It’s messy, slow, and frustrating. Do we really need that kind of bureaucratic obstacle standing in the way of our desire to protect the public? Each agency has its own policies and directions. On this side of the fence, you’re allowed to take this type of action but on the other side of the fence, you’re not. In my career I’ve worked for two fire departments, one state agency and two federal agencies. Each expects allegiance to their own agency. Yet, personnel are moving back and forth just trying to provide for their family and protect the public. Can’t we do better?

See also  Crises Leadership

The U.S. federal wildland agencies are still operating like it’s 1970, treating their firefighters like casual labor. Efforts are being made to improve pay, but the firefighters are working 16 hours a day for three weeks at a time for months on end. It is not sustainable. The feds are losing personnel to state and local government agencies. The talent-drain is ongoing, and the feds will pay the price if they don’t take bold action to compensate their firefighters, increase staffing, and provide for adequate rest so the firefighters aren’t working 16+ hour days for the entire season. It is not sustainable.

During a particularly difficult fire season a few years ago, a high government official told me, “Get used to it; it’s the new normal.” I replied, we’re managing the new normal with the old normal budgets, training, organizations and strategies. He didn’t reply.

The new normal is complicated and we’re going to need more than just easy answers to meet our current and future challenges. It’s not just the public who needs to stay or get informed on this topic. I get plenty of misinformed comments back from firefighters too. Take care of yourselves, your families, and your co-workers. I appreciate every minute you folks are on the line, in the station or training. Thank you.

Now Available

Both Sides of the Fire Line is Bobbie Scopa’s uplifting memoir of bravely facing the heat of fierce challenges, professionally and personally. It’s available now.

Order from Amazon Order from Barnes & Noble

Reader Feedback

Name(Required)
Role(Required)
Check all that apply.
Consent(Required)

 

As we watch the fires burn our neighbors’ homes in southern California, we have to keep in mind that the fires aren’t burning because of an inadequate water supply or a particular fire chief or reduced budget. They’re burning because of the Santa Ana winds and high temperatures with low humidities. When you have 60 […]

Bobbie on Fire

Bobbie Scopa started her career as a seasonal firefighter in 1974. After graduating from Arizona State University, she went on to work in fire and natural resource management. Eventually she left the wildand agencies to work full time for a structure fire department. She finished her Masters in Forestry at NC State then went back to the US Forest Service and BLM eventually becoming the Assistant Regional Fire Director in Region 6. Bobbie has spent many years working as a type 1 and 2 Operations Section Chief. You can listen to Bobbie tell audio stories from her long career at BobbieOnFire.com. She has also recently completed her memoir titled “Both Sides Of The Fire Line”. It will be available through Chicago Review Press late summer of 2022.

How Civil Is Your Station?

Years ago, I was at a national fire leadership meeting for the Forest Service. The fire...

What’s the Cost?

Throughout our lives and careers, there will be times that we’re asked a question or asked to do...

Habituation to Risk

Here we are during the time of year where we remember our lost friends and coworkers. Those we...

Topics

Topics

Subscribe to Our Monthly Newsletter

Stay in the loop with our wildland newsletter.

Get The Wildland Firefighter Newsletter

Related Articles

Innovations in Wildfire Management

Innovations in Wildfire Management

Host Eddie Buchanan talks with Anthony Schultz of ESRI and Braniff Davis of the Austin (TX) Fire Department to explore cutting-edge strategies for wildfire mitigation.